It is well known that weight plates receive applications of trademarks, logos and other indicia of marketing value and for purposes of indicating the load of the plate as well as indicating special events. Known, modern weight plates are being used such as in Olympic competition or “CROSSFIT” training. (“CROSSFIT” is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc., a Delaware Corporation.) It is increasingly common that standardized weight plates are utilized in such competition and fitness training. The standardized plates are almost invariably circular and they typically are made of a compressible material, such as all rubber, or a composite of a rubber outer plate with a central steel sleeve for mounting to a bar. Some weight plates are also made of solid metals. Such standardized weight plates typically include a recessed surface wherein a weight of the plate, such as in pounds (“lb.”), trademarks, logos, design images and/or special event advertising is placed.
The traditional methods of applying decorative designs, trademarks, etc. to weight plates include screen printing directly to the surface of the plate, painting the plate surface or creating raised lettering during the manufacturing process of the plates. In the circumstance of the standardized rubber weight plates (also known as “bumper plates”), the application of the decorative designs is typically done by screen printing or creating raised rubber letters during the vulcanization process of manufacturing the rubber bumper plates.
Regardless of the manufacturing process, customized application of decorative designs, trademarks, etc. is limited due to inefficiency in low batch quantities of manufacture of the weight plates and is therefore basically cost prohibitive. In addition, application of decorative design techniques such as screen printing often is insufficiently durable for periods of time as well as susceptible to degradation from ultra violet light and chemical exposure which are common in weight lifting environments.
Therefore, manufacturers and customers have sought solutions to remedy the aforementioned challenges. One form of modern weight plates has integrated a recessed surface on one or both sides of the plate. As shown in the prior art FIG. 1 of a contemporary weight plate 10, a recessed surface 12 is defined to be essentially co-axial with a central axis 13 of the circular plate 10, and markings 14 are located on a support surface 16 of the recessed surface 12. In the FIG. 1 prior art weight plate 10, the markings are the weight (“35 LB”) of the plate 10. This prevents the markings 14 from being scratched or otherwise damaged during stacking and/or loading of the weight plates 10 onto each other or onto a weight bar (not shown). Nonetheless, such use of the recessed surface 12 still leaves the markings 14 subject to substantial wear and tear. The known methods of placing or defining markings 14 on the recessed surface 12 are quite expensive, especially for limited production of the plates 10 and for a requirement for plates 10 of many different weight markings 14.
Consequently, there is still a need to provide an efficient decorative assembly and method of use for securing markings such as weights of the plates, custom brand names, branding, decorative designs, trademarks, etc. to weight plates in a cost effective manner at low quantities as well as in a scale for large batch production. In addition, there is a need to supply decorative designs to weight plates wherein the designs have adequate durability to resist ultra-violet radiation (“UV”) and chemical exposure as well as wear and tear typical to the weight lifting environments.